IN A CLASS OF THEIR OWN !

 

Anyone who has been in a division where despite trying as hard as they possibly can they have absolutely no chance of competing with the leading team will empathize with eleven of the twelve teams in the first division of the Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League in the 1955/6 season. Roy Sleet who is probably the League's longest serving player recently forwarded the handbook from the all-conquering Marconi A side of that season and it certainly made fascinating reading. Marconi enjoyed the longest uninterrupted winning spell in League history (and one that will probably never be beaten) taking the first division title 15 consecutive times between 1945 and 1960.

Can You Help?

Marconi Silverware: 
Posing with an impressive mid-Fifties haul of League trophies
 are from left to right:-
(back row): Ted Mackay, Reg Sleet, Unknown, Unknown, Brian Piercy, 
John Ginn, Charlie Wheeler, Ron Woods:
(front row): Marice (Peter) Searles, Mary Reynoldson, Marjorie Shipstone, Unknown, Margaret Male, Dan Peddar.

Can you fill in the missing names or correct the line up?

In those days matches were four-a-side (each player played two singles and a doubles) and in 1955/6 the Marconi team were at the height of their powers. They were led by the legendary Charlie Wheeler and his team-mates (all leading players of their day) were Reg Sleet (Roy's brother), Pat Cross and Tom Mayer. To say that Marconi dominated the division is a massive understatement because they were quite simply in a different class to everyone else that year. Of their 22 matches they won ten by a 10-0 margin and another four matches 9-1. The unthinkable happened on 21 March 1956 when they travelled to Maldon. Not only did Charlie Wheeler lose his only game of the season at 21-19 in the decider against one D. Wright (a player whose name doesn't appear in the League handbook as far as I am aware) but the team also slipped up 6-4. Geoff Newman may well have fond memories of that night as he won a vital singles; beating Pat Cross (who later played very successfully for the Maldon club) at 22-20 in the decider and he also shared in a vital doubles success with Wally Fell against Cross/Tom Mayer.

 

Interestingly enough the Men's Singles title eluded Charlie Wheeler that season and was captured by Tony Condon who won it a total of seven times; most recently in

1972. Other leading players of the era including Denny Male, Lou Pavit, Dennis Root, Bill Greenwood, Doug Minett, Johnny Ginn (who sadly died last year), four times Braintree Champion Peter Ogilvie, former Braintree League Vice-Chairman Dan Pedder, Peter Faulder, brothers Graham and Evan Taplin, Fred Sheldrake, Pat Dukes and Gordon Ransom. The difference in class between the Chelmsford and Braintree Leagues in those days was evident when Witham faced Marconi. The Braintree Champion of the season Peter Ogilvie could make no impact whatsoever against the biting of defence of Wheeler going down 21-6, 21-11 in the home fixture. Ogilvie fare much better in the second half of the season only succumbing narrowly 17-21,19-21. 

 

The Clubs of that era still have a familiar ring about them. As well as Witham the division also included two sides from the League's founder Club Chelmsford TTC (who kept going at St. John Payne School right into the late 1980s). Other sides in the division included three other Marconi teams, Maldon A, Danbury A,  ECC A and Hoffmans A (who finally withdrew from the League 16 years ago). Sadly Hoffmans is a forgotten name in the town's folk-lore having moved to Newark as part of the RHP Group and subsequently having been taken over by NSK-Europe Plc. The other team in the division - Abbey Works are not as well remembered 40 years on although their no. 1 player Dennis Root appears to have been a formidable performer. His team were fortunate to face Marconi without Wheeler in attendance and he made his presence felt with a 21-12, 21-16 success against Tom Mayer. It wasn't enough though as Marconi still won 7-3.

 

Another event of note occurred when Marconi A faced club-mates Marconi D - the three Sleet brothers took part in the same match on 24 October 1955. Reg backed his team-mates up (Charlie Wheeler, Tom Mayer and Pat Cross) as they stormed home 10-0. His opponents on this occasion were his brothers Roy and Francis. Reg showed little mercy beating Roy 21-14, 21-19 and walloping Francis 21-13, 21-9.

 

Thanks to Roy for providing these records and Colin Gooday for his notes.

 

Perhaps other older players with pre-1970 League handbooks might like to forward them to members of the Committee. They are invaluable in formulating the League's history.